Statewide log cabin tour June 28

Grand Rapids Press photo • Jon M BrouwerLaura Hall cleans some fresh eggs in the kitchen of the small cabin she and her husband, David Hall, live in on 10 acres in Newaygo County. The couple are opening their home to the public noon to 2 p.m. June 28 as part of 2009 Log Cabin Day.

WHITE CLOUD -- Even as a child, Laura K. Hall dreamed of having a bit of land under her feet and a patch of sky overhead.

She loved being outdoors, exploring the ponds and woods near her childhood home in Byron Center on land once wild, but now populated by businesses, four-lane highways and acres of residences.

"There's just something about being out in nature," Hall says, "something that makes you feel closer to the Lord .... closer to where we're meant to be as people."

For years, Hall had to put her dream on hold while she worked in Grand Rapids as a certified nurse's aide and raised her son, Isaiah, on her own after a divorce.

"But I craved living in the country, being out in the natural world.. I wanted to work with herbs, grow my own food, raise vegetables, but I couldn't quite capture it living in an apartment," she says.

Still, she held out hope. Some day, she dreamed, she'd have a patch of sky overhead and she'd live off the land.

Grand Rapids Press photo • Jon M BrouwerDavid Hall and his dog, Kaytob, walk past the 960-square-foot cabin to do some chores as Laura Hall tends to the garden.

Finally, that day has come.

"Here I am," she says. "Now."

Today, Hall, 47, lives on and farms 10 acres of wooded land in White Cloud with her husband, David Hall, 54. The couple married in 2004 and moved out of Grand Rapids to White Cloud a year later.

The Halls live in a little log cabin, which neighborhood lore insists was built by the previous owner out of trees forested from the land 20 years ago. Quaint and sitting in a sunlit spot carved out of a grove of trees, the Halls' log cabin is definitely a no-frills residence -- with only 960 square feet of living space. In log cabin circles, it's known for its "Lincoln log" style, similar to the child's construction toy of the same name.

But ask Laura Hall to describe it, and she has one word: "Primitive." Then she adds: "Definitely, primitive."

They heat with wood, make do without television, answer their telephone only on occasion. But there are some concessions to the modern world in the cabin: electricity, a washing machine and computer.

Earlier this month, Laura Hall was canning asparagus, restocking the pantry running low after a long winter of canned tomatoes, turkey stock, jams, jellies and squash.

"Our goal is to be as self-reliant as possible," Laura Hall says. "It's just really great to put up and cook food you've grown yourselves."

The Halls believe so strongly in their way of life that they are going to open their log cabin home to the public from noon to 2 p.m. June 28 as part of the statewide Log Cabin Day tour.

Laura Hall has many reasons for putting her home on the tour, one of which is to inspire others to live more simply, especially during this time of economic upheaval.

"I just want to give some kind of hope to people," she says. "I think if we all took a couple steps backwards, generation-wise, we'd be better off."

Theirs is a picturesque existence with two horses, a flock of Rhode Island Reds given free-range of the place, a dog and cat, and maybe goats or cows in the future. Clothes, freshly washed, hang on a clothesline strung between two trees. They've planted dozens of dwarf apple trees on the property, including Fujis, Braeburns, Spies, Pink Ladies, Jonathons and Golden Delicious that she hopes to sell one day. And she's put in a garden plentiful with peas, cabbage and beans, reminiscent of the Victory Gardens of the past, and filled another spot with herbs she dries and turns into tinctures and homegrown remedies.

Hers is an unconventional planting style. Garlic is just as apt to be in an old wringer washer as in a traditional plot.

"I think you have to use your skills and what you have," she says.

She and her husband have shed the excesses of life to make the dream possible, now living on "about $55,000 a year," she says. She gave up part-time work as a nurse's aide to work on the farm full time. Her husband works at the Ice Mountain water bottling plant in Mecosta County full time and part time at the Salvation Army's Turning Point program in Grand Rapids.

One day, the Halls hope to earn their living off the eggs and produce they raise.

"We're living out our 1970s dream," she jokes.

The Halls are Mormons, members of The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, "which takes food storage and health seriously. They're big issues," Laura Hall says.

David Hall recently built a root cellar on their property to store root vegetables, brown rice and whole wheat flour, which he grinds by hand for their bread, pancakes, cookies and other baked goods.

A hunter and fisherman, he supplies the meat for the table.

"The first year, I felt like I was camping. It was definitely a culture shock," Laura Hall says.

Especially for her son, who now is 20, living with his father and in college in Lafayette, Ind.

Laura Hall looks around at the work already accomplished and the dreams still ahead. She pronounces it "half done," even though her husband says they are only "a quarter of the way there."

"Everything we do here is work from our own hands," she says.

As she speaks, she shoos the chickens -- who send up a chorus of protests and calls -- away from the herb garden. She checks on her strawberries and snap peas. She inspects the rain barrel set out to catch run-off water from the roof, with which they'll water the garden.

A bit of land. A patch of sky.

"It's hard to believe," she says. "I am so blessed. I am so lucky."

ONE FAMILY'S LOG CABIN

■ Who: Laura K. and David Hall.■ Where: 1717 N. Pine, White Cloud.■ When: The Halls will open their log cabin to the public from noon to 2 p.m. June 28 as part of the 2009 Log Cabin Day.■ If you go: You can also visit the Halls' garden, dwarf fruit tree orchard and livestock. David Hall will offer wheat-grinding demonstrations. Homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookies and farm fresh eggs will be for sale.■ Directions: From White Cloud, go east on M-20 (Baseline Road) and travel about 4 1/2 miles to Pine Avenue. Turn left onto Pine.■ Fair warning: The road becomes gravel. Look for a mailbox decorated with rocks painted like eggs, and you're there.■ Out of courtesy: Please park on Pine Avenue and walk the two-track drive to get to the log cabin.■ For information: E-mail vncntvngrg@aol.com